The Obedience Driven Life

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I used to hate the word obedience.  Because I was a disobedient child, and it reminded me of the consequence that awaited me.  What I didn’t realize, until God revealed it, is that obedience is a path, not a list.  God didn’t give rules to restrict you, or hinder you, He gave rules to prosper you, protect you,  to propel you, to get you somewhere.  Like a viaduct versus a flood.  Water directed gives life to many, water overrunning its boundaries destroys everything.   I always thought God had a list of do’s and don’ts, that I could never really do, or stop doing, and I thought He was just waiting to clobber me, when I made a mistake.  What kind of God is that?  Not the One True God.  So where did I get that one from?  The other guy, who told me “what God was.”  Only He wasn’t that way, the devil was lying, imagine that… That’s what he does, he’s the father of lies.  The God of the Universe, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the designer and creator of you, in your mother’s womb - He is a Heavenly Father who loves His children, who will do anything for them, even die for them.  He loves to prosper them, and loves to delight them.  But He is a Holy God, He hates sin.  Sin is a curse, it never ends well, it just seems fun for a while, but it ends in death, every time.   When I realized God’s purpose for me was good, and He created me for a purpose, I began to realize that if I just learned to walk in His purpose, under the protection of His boundaries, the game was really fun to play.  Have you ever played flag football in the park with a kid who didn’t honor the sidelines.  No you can’t run across the street or hide behind the car when I’m about to grab your flag, you’re out of bounds, that’s not football.  Or a baserunner, that runs out of the baseline.  No you can’t run to the pitcher’s mound to escape the tag.  The game isn’t fun if there are no boundaries, it’s not a game, its just chaos.  Life isn’t fun, you cannot succeed, if you are outside of God’s boundaries, morally, legally, socially, ethically.  When I learned that God has good for you, He loves you, His rules are just to guide you so you can succeed… then life took on a whole new meaning.  Don’t get confused, God’s not all about us, we should be all about God.  You and I are not worthy of worship, He is.  He is a Holy and Just God.  I did learn about sin.  How it grieves God, and causes a severe problem.  The wrath of God will surely be released against lawbreakers, sinners.  Those who continue to live in their wickedness will surely suffer judgment.  Sin separates you from a Holy God.  And you have a problem.  No sin will exist in His presence.  You cannot live forever in Heaven with Him, until you get this sin problem fixed.  But the dilemma is, you cannot fix it, and the guy stuck in the ditch with you, can’t pull you out.  The wages of sin is death, and then, it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.  So what about those who think there’s nothing after death – you just become worm food.  Well, your body does, but your soul and spirit don’t.  Those who believe the devil’s lie, will be in for a very rude awakening.  And it will be too late. You will stand before God on judgment day, you will give an account, and your life will be weighed in the balance.  Like the King of Babylon in His drunken stupor seeing a hand writing on the wall.  Tekel – You have been weighed in the balance, and have been found wanting.  Compared to God’s holiness, the best things you’ve ever done, will fall short, your sin will outweigh it.  But those who put their faith in Jesus Christ – to pay their sin penalty – their names will be found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!  They will be welcomed by their Heavenly Father into their eternal home – Heaven with Jesus, all the angels, and heavenly creatures, and all those who have gone before who have put their faith in Jesus Christ alone.  But those who rejected God’s only Son, will forever be cast into outer darkness, a place void of God, of light, of love, of anything good.  They will be thrown into the lake of fire with the devil and his demons and the poor miserable souls who believed the lies the devil told them, and the torment will never end, ever.  God’s not tormenting them, He’s not there.  It’s a place without God, the place they chose, so the devil will be unhindered, and his hate will consume everything.  There will be no friends there, no love there, no hope there, ever.  So my prayer for you.  Is that you would put your faith in Jesus Christ, which is so simple to do!  First, admit you are a sinner, that’s easy, it’s obvious.  Repent, thinking differently about it, sin is not ok, it grieves God, and should grieve you that you have sinned against God.  Second, believe that Jesus died in your place (God said that’s why he came), and that God raised him from the dead.  Easy, historic fact with over 500 witnesses.  And third, out loud with your mouth, commit your life to God’s control - To live from this day forward in obedience to Him, whatever He tells you.  You can’t do it on your own, but He will give you the Holy Spirit to help you.  He promised, just ask Him - Luke 11:13 – and He will give to you, the Holy Spirit who will lead you into all truth, and show you things to come, which will give you power to live according to God’s instructions, that you can’t do on your own.  It’s the full surrender of your life to Him.  It’s the beginning of your obedience journey, a path, not a list.  If you did these things according to Scripture, your Name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and your life of sin will be cancelled, forgiven by grace.  Now, your journey of obedience begins.  God has a purpose He created you for, and rewards just waiting for you.  So what does this Obedience life look like?  What do you obey with?  Time, Thoughts, and Money – Surrender everything, let Him take over.  It’s the journey of a lifetime, and then a journey that continues for eternity without end! 
 
Love you all,
dad